His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama has said that in order to practice Kalachakra, Cycles of
Time, it is not necessary to have trained first with other, simpler deities. Cycles of Time
presents a complete system for spiritual development, with graded materials to suit each level of
practice. One starts with a single-deity practice and then gradually works up in stages to being
able to visualize the entire symbolic world of 722 deities.

Many Westerners wish to practice Cycles of Time, but do not have the time to do the fuller
versions and need materials to work up to them. Upon requesting His Holiness to suggest more
abbreviated methods for actualizing oneself as a Cycles of Time, His Holiness recommended the four
texts presented herein. I have translated these texts into English using the vocabulary system
introduced in Geshe Ngawang Dhargyey,
An Anthology of Well-Spoken Advice, vol.1, Dharamsala: Library of Tibetan Works and
Archives, l984. In this system, all terms are rendered into English and nothing is left in foreign
languages. The Sanskrit, Tibetan, and some of the more common English equivalents may be found in
that volume. I have also retranslated the four-lengthed versions of the
Six-Session Yoga and additional prayers with the same vocabulary system, so as to present
consistent materials.

In the longer texts where portions are repeated from shorter versions, these portions have not
been written out fully, in accordance with Tibetan custom. The places where they are to be found
have been clearly indicated. As success in these practices comes partially from putting in personal
effort, it has been left to the individual practitioner to fill these portions into the texts and
prepare their own copies for practice. This manner of presenting practice texts also helps to
preserve their secrecy from those who look at them merely causally.

All diacritical marks have been omitted from Sanskrit terms and names. For ease of pronunciation
by nonspecialists, "ch," "chh," "sh," and ":" have been used instead of "c," "ch," "s" with a slash
over it or a dot under it, and "h" with a dot under it.